Boca Raton, FL— A new study by the University of Georgia published in the journalFoods, found that use of a proprietary blend of macular carotenoids (lutein, zeaxanthin and mesozeaxanthin) may protect the eyes from damage inflicted by blue light emitted from our smartphones and other electronic devices.

The study included 48 healthy young adults with at least 6 hours of daily near-field screen-time exposure. They were measured at baseline and following six months of supplementation with macular carotenoids (MC) or placebo for macular pigment optical density (MPOD), sleep quality, visual performance and physical indicators of excessive screen time. At baseline, MPOD correlated significantly with all visual performance measures and after six months results showed that supplementation with MC yielded significant improvement in MPOD, overall sleep quality, headache frequency, eye strain, eye fatigue and all visual performance measures compared to placebo.

"Given the rich deposition of the MCs in the foveal retina, the most parsimonious explanation of the effects determined in our study would seem to involve the deposition of the MCs in the retina as MP," the researchers write. "Certainly this is the most plausible explanation for the visual performance results—baseline relationships and changes with MPOD augmentation for these measures have also been shown in previous studies."

Given the pervasiveness of devices that emit blue light and the chronic use of them by adults and most significantly, children, this is a promising study that will likely encourage further research into this area.